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Given the well-documented relationship between lifestyle, disease burden, and health care costs, there is a greater need to investigate individual factors in health-related attitudes and behaviors. This research extends the rich knowledge developed around engagement, in particular customer engagement, to a new, understudied setting—namely, public health—and establishes the concept of health engagement, defined as individuals’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral investments in health-related interactions centered around managing and taking care of their health. In addition, the current work investigates cultural drivers of the health engagement construct. A multinational survey of 1,208 participants reveals that uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence are positively related to the salience of one's health, which, in turn, motivates health engagement and, by extension, improves physical and psychological health outcomes. Finally, the authors provide actionable insights for policy makers, public health actors, and business managers who seek to develop health engagement to improve overall public health.

Purpose This study aims to explore how the attitudes, motivations and practices of informal entrepreneurs, who choose service exclusion, prevent them from recognizing and taking advantage of transformative opportunities and embracing change. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a two-year study to explore five types of informal entrepreneurs (musicians, street vendors, artists, owners of informal smoke shops and street food vendors). The authors used semi-structured interviews and applied thematic analysis (ATA) of popular music and narratives to shed light on their attitudes, motivations and practices. Findings The study shows how potential service participants freely exclude themselves from services and transformative service initiatives, preventing them from realizing opportunities and embracing change that can improve their well-being. The study also demonstrates that to serve human needs fairly, service designers need to recognize that some actors require more attention and resources than others to achieve their potential. Originality/value The study challenges the notion that any population experiencing vulnerability wants help and chooses to participate in transformative service initiatives. Service participants can, in fact, exclude themselves from services and transformative service initiatives by free will, demonstrating that service exclusion is a multidirectional phenomenon, not unidirectional. Additionally, the paper analyzes narratives gathered from aesthetic expressions, using principles of ATA, introducing music thematic analysis as a research approach.

Events in the year 2020 threw human service systems into chaotic states, threatening peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Before 2020, there were many profound challenges to human life that had been well documented by efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a “last straw” crisis that has destabilized modern human civilization. This article diagnoses various crises of human service systems (e.g., COVID-19, inequality, and climate change) and proposes the metaphor of service ecosystem health for reimagining service science in a postpandemic world. Service ecosystem health is defined as the interdependent state of private, public, and planetary well-being necessary for sustaining life. This article reimagines service science, broadens transformative service research, builds the service ecosystem health metaphor, outlines the Goldilocks Civilization thought experiment, and explores designing for a Goldilocks civilization. Because service is for humans, the ultimate objective is to elevate service science to uplift human well-being.

Digital technology is an integral part of today's healthcare, yet little is known about how these technologies affect healthcare customers' experience. This study uses regulatory focus theory to understand how consumers' role clarity, perceived usefulness, ease of use (i.e., promotion orientation), security, and trust (i.e., prevention orientation) when using digital health technology affect their experience. A nationwide study shows that customer experience is driven by promotion- and prevention-related variables concurrently. Results also show that customer experience with digital health technology positively affects customers' attitudes toward using digital technology. This study offers valuable insights for marketers, technology developers, and healthcare managers interested in understanding and improving healthcare customer experience.

Purpose The purpose of this special issue is to advance discussions on how the richness, complexities and challenges of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) context can contribute to the understanding of under-researched, as well as newly emerging, phenomena within the service research field. Design/methodology/approach This special issue of the Journal of Services Marketing consists of eight articles that focus on different service research topics emerging from the MEA region. The eight papers cover a variety of research methods (e.g. interviews, focus groups, ethnography, case study, survey), participants (e.g. customers, executives, households, refugees, human trafficking survivors, NGO leaders, government officials), countries (e.g. Zambia, Turkey, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Lebanon) and service industries (e.g. health care, finance, hospitality, faith-based services). Findings This editorial provides background information on the MEA context and proposes a unique research agenda for MEA development with a portfolio of intriguing research questions and inspiring opportunities for further research. Specifically, the editorial highlights six of the most promising and unique avenues for service research in the MEA context by considering the diversity and variations between the MEA nations: cultivate service inclusion; tackle service corruption and designing for justice; climate protection to mitigate further instability and conflict; closing the gap in digital technology: opportunities and challenges; prioritize essential service sectors (education, health care and tourism); and eradicate “service” poverty. Originality/value This special issue is a first attempt to explore the MEA region from a service research perspective. The editorial discusses unique challenges and opportunities from theoretical and managerial points of view and calls for embracing this region as the new frontier for service researchers.

Transformative service initiatives (TSIs) refer to activities by organizations (public, private, nonprofit) or volunteers to serve people experiencing vulnerabilities, including long-term challenges (e.g., refugees, homeless people, undocumented immigrants, ex-convicts) and try to improve their well-being. To advance the concept of TSI, this study proposes a 3A (Awareness, Alignment, Access) Integration Process Framework that can facilitate empirical tests of whether participation in TSIs affects people’s access to critical services. The empirical evidence affirms a positive influence of TSI participation on two TSR outcomes (application and access to higher education), according to data from a longitudinal study of 2,068 refugees (Study 1) that relies on propensity score matching and regression analysis. Study 2 uses qualitative data from six focus groups and identifies 16 barriers to successful refugee integration; it also identifies four individual strategies to overcoming those integration barriers. From academic and public policy perspectives, the findings demonstrate that efforts to plan and implement TSIs should follow a stepwise process to achieve the intended transformative outcomes. These findings can help academic, public policy, and civil society actors design and implement TSIs in various contexts to benefit people experiencing vulnerability.

The global refugee crisis is a complex humanitarian problem. Service researchers can assist in solving this crisis because refugees are immersed in complex human service systems. Drawing on marketing, sociology, transformative service, and consumer research literature, this study develops a Transformative Refugee Service Experience Framework to enable researchers, service actors, and public policy makers to navigate the challenges faced throughout a refugee’s service journey. The primary dimensions of this framework encompass the spectrum from hostile to hospitable refugee service systems and the resulting suffering or well-being in refugees’ experiences. The authors conceptualize this at three refugee service journey phases (entry, transition, and exit) and at three refugee service system levels (macro, meso, and micro) of analysis. The framework is supported by brief examples from a range of service-related refugee contexts as well as a Web Appendix with additional cases. Moreover, the authors derive a comprehensive research agenda from the framework, with detailed research questions for public policy and (service) marketing researchers. Managerial directions are provided to increase awareness of refugee service problems; stimulate productive interactions; and improve collaboration among public and nonprofit organizations, private service providers, and refugees. Finally, this work provides a vision for creating hospitable refugee service systems.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to highlight the role that service firms can play to improve societal health and create symbiotic value, defined as value created as a result of collaborative relationships between the firm, its employees, customers and the communities in which it operates.Design/methodology/approachThis manuscript examines the case of Millennials as they make up a dominant portion of the current workforce in society and proposes a conceptual framework for symbiotic value creation.FindingsThis study identifies the need to develop supporting mechanisms for the growing role of Millennials as employees and members of society that ultimately, in turn, create symbiotic value.Originality/valueThe paper proposes an integrative framework beyond the traditional and siloed examination of linkages between employee, customer, firm and society, creating new opportunities for extending a service theory and practice.

PurposeElevating the human experience (HX) through research collaborations is the purpose of this article. ServCollab facilitates and supports service research collaborations that seek to reduce human suffering and improve human well-being.Design/methodology/approachTo catalyze this initiative, the authors introduce ServCollab's three human rights goals (serve, enable and transform), standards of justice for serving humanity (distributive, procedural and interactional justice) and research approaches for serving humanity (service design and community action research).Research implicationsServCollab seeks to advance the service research field via large-scale service research projects that pursue theory building, research and action. Service inclusion is the first focus of ServCollab and is illustrated through two projects (transformative refugee services and virtual assistants in social care). This paper seeks to encourage collaboration in more large-scale service research projects that elevate the HX.Practical implicationsServCollab seeks to raise the aspirations of service researchers, expand the skills of service research teams and build mutually collaborative service research approaches that transform human lives.Originality/valueServCollab is a unique organization within the burgeoning service research community. By collaborating with service researchers, with service research centers, with universities, with nonprofit agencies and with foundations, ServCollab will build research capacity to address large-scale human service system problems. ServCollab takes a broad perspective for serving humanity by focusing on the HX. Current business research focuses on the interactive roles of customer experience and employee experience. From the perspective of HX, such role labels are insufficient concepts for the full spectrum of human life.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an interdisciplinary framework bridging service design and social entrepreneurship with transformative service research (TSR) to create greater synergetic effects to advance wellbeing and drive social impact. Design/methodology/approach This research provides an interdisciplinary review and synthesis of literature to establish a basis for a conceptual framework advancing human wellbeing and driving social impact. Findings The overarching framework created incorporates various concepts, methods and tools across the three research domains. At the core of the framework is the ultimate goal of multilevel wellbeing and social impact. The core is subsequently supported by established social entrepreneurship concepts and strategies: prosocial motivation, hybrid identity, social bricolage, entrepreneurial thinking, community engagement, business model design and innovative delivery. The implementation of these concepts could benefit from the methods and tools used in service design, such as: design probes, service blueprints, appreciative inquiry, contextual interviews, actor maps, sustainable business model canvas and service prototyping. Practical implications The paper uses the refugee crisis as an illustrative example of how the proposed framework can be put into action by service organizations. Originality/value By bridging literature in TSR, service design and social entrepreneurship, this paper provides service managers with a framework to guide scalable systemic solutions for service organizations interested in advancing human wellbeing and driving social impact.

Despite the substantial budgets spent on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), customers’ reactions toward companies’ socially responsible strategies are not always in line with companies’...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for guiding social innovation in service (SIS), defined as the creation of novel, scalable and sustainable market based service offerings that solve systemic societal problems. Design/methodology/approach This research provides a review and synthesis of transdisciplinary literatures to establish a basis for the conceptual framework proposed for SIS. Findings It is argued that the primary unit of an SIS is the service firm and that there are micro-, meso-, and macro-level actors and enablers in the ecosystem that can help bring about SIS. Examples from the hospitality and tourism industry are used to demonstrate key points. Practical implications Benefits of an SIS to companies include growth through new markets and innovative value offerings, sustainable supply chains in production, building consumer value and trust in the company/brand, attracting and retaining talent and being proactive in including social and environmental measures of success in customer metrics and company financial reporting. Originality/value This paper contributes to the social innovation and service literature by: offering a new, scientifically supported view of an SIS; providing managers with a framework to guide social innovation within their service firm and for the benefit of their company and its stakeholders; and directing service scholars to research issues necessary to advance SIS.

International audience; Humanistic Management and Transformative Service Research literatures share the common goal of addressing the increasingly growing global challenges faced by humanity. Recently, organizations have been called to further engage in social innovation in service (SIS) in an attempt to address these challenges. However, the existing service literature does not offer explicit processes regarding how to manage these social innovation efforts at the human interaction level. By drawing on both Humanistic Management and Service literatures, this paper develops a conceptual framework to guide the social innovation in service efforts. More specifically, this paper aims to answer a key question of: how can organizations manage human interactions to help maximize social innovation in service (SIS) outcomes? This paper identifies four foundational values (respect, trust, fairness, and inclusion) that should be at the core of the proposed processes (communication, collaboration, and compassion) needed in order to achieve the desired outcomes of SIS (relieving suffering, increasing well-being, and protecting and promoting human dignity). Subsequently, a typology of service organizations is offered with different combinations of processes at the human interaction level, highlighting the synergistic effect of the three identified processes. The proposed framework in this paper is a first step in bridging two disciplines to highlight their potential and role in addressing the global challenges.

PurposeGrounded in Transformative Service Research, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mechanisms by which bank information transparency influences consumer’s financial well-being (FWB). The authors propose that customer attitudes toward the brand and the subjectively perceived ability of individuals to deal with the financial challenges explain the enhancement of FWB driven by bank information transparency.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. In total, 400 bank customers of five commercial banks in Colombia were approached and asked to fill out a pen and paper questionnaire. Serial mediation analysis was applied to test the hypotheses.FindingsThis research shows that bank information transparency can uplift the FWB of customers. Furthermore, the positive effect of bank information transparency on the FWB occurs because the shared information improves the positive attitudes toward banks and the perceived financial self-efficacy of customers.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper heeds the call of current literature for improved explanations of the relationship between attempts to inform consumers about financial services and their FWB.Practical implicationsThis research shows that managers who embrace the challenging task of improving the FWB of their customers should design strategies for more transparent information sharing with their customers. However, these strategies should be designed not only to deliver information to customers but also to increase the perceived disclosure, accuracy and clarity of shared information.Originality/valueThis pioneering study aims to explain the effects of bank information transparency on the FWB of consumers by drawing on interdisciplinary literature. This research is important as many banks aim to increase their information transparency without a clear understanding of the effects of these actions on consumers and therefore in many instances their efforts fail. A key contribution of this study is identifying concrete mechanisms (i.e. brand attitudes and self-efficacy) that help managers to improve customers’ FWB via information transparency. Accordingly, the authors offer suggestions for better information transparency strategy implementation.

This chapter highlights that digitalisation is not just about “more, faster, cheaper,” but its ability, also, to enhance or support other types of value. The authors link digitalisation to sustainability, by introducing the concept of digitalisation for sustainability. They propose a more open and collaborative consideration of digitalisation for sustainability to alleviate the established myopic view of digitalisation as merely the implementation of technology. They stress the need, also, to consider the sustainability of the digitalisation process. The chapter concludes by highlighting some opportunities for future research and some implications for practice.

Rethinking the workplace experience as a means for enhancing the well-being of frontline employees (FLEs) represents a key priority for services. The well-being of frontline employees leads to improved performance and better customer service, such that it enhances the firm’s overall competitive advantage and revenue. Therefore, engagement-facilitating technologies that can increase FLEs’ well-being, such as gamified work, hold promise in terms of their effects on job satisfaction and engagement. Using a mixed-method design, including in-depth interviews with FLEs and their managers, and two large field experiments, this research considers two key sectors in which FLEs are critical: retailing and telemarketing. The results highlight the negative impacts of gamified work on employee engagement and well-being, although the willingness of employees to participate in such gamified work moderates these negative impacts. By revealing how gamification affects FLEs’ well-being, job engagement, and job satisfaction, this research provides actionable insights for managers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is radically transforming frontline service encounters, with AI increasingly playing the role of employee or customer. Programmed to speak or write like a human, AI is poised to usher in a frontline service revolution. No longer will frontline encounters between customer and employee be simply human-to-human; rather, researchers must consider an evolved paradigm where each actor could be either human or AI. Further complicating this 2 × 2 framework is whether the human, either customer or employee, recognizes when they are interacting with a non-human exchange partner. Accordingly, we develop an evolved service encounter framework and, in doing so, introduce the concept of counterfeit service, interspecific service (AI-to-human), interAI service (AI-to-AI), and offer a research agenda focused on the implementation of AI in dyadic service exchanges.

Purpose Internet user privacy risks have been a topical subject with respect to consumers, corporations and governments. In line with the recent privacy scandals linked to social media, the aim of this study is to explore users’ privacy protection behaviors (PPB) on Facebook through the actions they take to protect their privacy, their underlying motives and the values behind these protective actions. Moreover, this study aims to address an unintended consequence of Facebook usage. Despite Facebook’s positive and uplifting goal of connecting people, consumers are forced to resort to specific behaviors to protect their privacy and well-being. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an exploratory research approach by using a well-established qualitative technique: structured laddering interviews. In total, 20 in-depth personal interviews were conducted with the Millennials. Findings Results show that the process of privacy protection is initiated by experiences, uncertainty and literacy, rather than threats, which leads to concerns that trigger PPBs. The most common PPBs include: “Reflection,” “Avoidance,” “Intervention,” “Restriction,” “Control,” and “Restraint.” The underlying motives for the adoption of these strategies include: “Success,” “Security,” “Social Recognition,” “A World of Peace,” “Exclusivity of Self,” “Being in Control,” “Meaning” and “True Friendship”. Originality/value The present research adopts a transdisciplinary framework to help fill the gap regarding the interplay of PPBs on Facebook, the triggers of those behaviors and their underlying motives. It contributes to the service literature and practice as it provides insights into a growing area of interest, whereas more social media channels are being created and more services are using social media strategies to engage and interact with their customers. Finally, it addresses the growing need to consider the impact of technological services, including internet and social media, on consumers’ and societies’ well-being.

PurposeSmart technologies and connected objects are rapidly changing the organizational frontline. Yet, our understanding of how these technologies infuse service encounters remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to update existing classifications of Frontline Service Technology (FST) infusion. Moreover, the authors discuss three promising smart and connected technologies – conversational agents, extended reality (XR) and blockchain technology – and their respective implications for customers, frontline employees and service organizations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a conceptual approach integrating existing work on FST infusion with artificial intelligence, robotics, XR and blockchain literature, while also building on insights gathered through expert interviews and focus group conversations with members of two service research centers.FindingsThe authors define FST and propose a set of FST infusion archetypes at the organizational frontline. Additionally, the authors develop future research directions focused on understanding how conversational agents, XR and blockchain technology will impact service.Originality/valueThis paper updates and extends existing classifications of FST, while paving the road for further work on FST infusion.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to challenge service researchers to design for service inclusion, with an overall goal of achieving inclusion by 2050. The authors present service inclusion as an egalitarian system that provides customers with fair access to a service, fair treatment during a service and fair opportunity to exit a service. Design/methodology/approach Building on transformative service research, a transformative, human-centered approach to service design is proposed to foster service inclusion and to provide a platform for managerial action. This conceptual study explores the history of service exclusion and examines contemporary demographic trends that suggest the possibility of worsening service exclusion for consumers worldwide. Findings Service inclusion represents a paradigm shift to higher levels of understanding of service systems and their fundamental role in human well-being. The authors argue that focused design for service inclusion is necessary to make service systems more egalitarian. Research limitations/implications The authors propose four pillars of service inclusion: enabling opportunity, offering choice, relieving suffering and fostering happiness. Practical implications Service organizations are encouraged to design their offerings in a manner that promotes inclusion and permits customers to realize value. Originality/value This comprehensive research agenda challenges service scholars to use design to create inclusive service systems worldwide by the year 2050. The authors establish the moral imperative of design for service inclusion.

Significant developments have been made in the service sector highlighted by the increasing adoption of automated services, use of virtual agents and artificial intelligence, and in the introduction of consumer-facing service robots (Hollebeek et al. 2017). Service robots, operate in service environments across the globe, interacting with consumer and service entities alike (Li 2015), signalling the era of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) (Mende 2017). Barnett et al. (2014, p. 1134) define interactive service robots as “social robots capable of working within service environments and interacting with consumers through various service encounters”. Service researchers have acknowledged that the field of service research is behind in studying the impact of robots on various aspects of service (Mende 2017; van Doorn et al. 2017), which constitutes the focus and contribution of this research. In this paper, we conduct a Systematic Scoping Review of interdisciplinary journal articles and conference proceedings, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Moher et al. 2015) and the methodology outlined by Peters et al. (2015).

Companies’ spending on influencer marketing campaigns is growing exponentially. In 2016, firms invested more than $80 billion on influential social media users (ANA 2018). These users are considered “influential” as they contribute to the formation of attitudes toward products and services of a large number of other social media users. The basic idea underlying this novel marketing communication technique is that influencers build a relationship over time with those who follow their social media pages and thereby gain their trust and confidence. However, despite its massive growth and promising advantages, influencer marketing is still a considerably underexplored technique. Prior research has focused on influencer authenticity (Audrezet et al. 2018), likeability (De Veirman et al. 2017), the credibility of influencer posts (Boerman et al. 2017), and success metrics of influencer campaigns (Grafe and Greff 2018), while the dynamics of influencer-follower relationships remain unexplored. In this paper, we develop and empirically test a life-cycle model of such influencer–follower relationships.

This research examines how patient experience is affected by various generational cohorts’ perceived ease of use and usefulness of healthcare patient portals and how this experience, in turn, shapes cohort technology use. Results suggest that digital technology needs to be designed and implemented with cohorts in mind. This study complements research in digital technology and customer experience by highlighting the relevance of generational cohort differences, that is whether they adopted digital technology (i.e., Generation X) or always had digital technology, (i.e., Millennials) on a patient’s experience.